British Forces Say Goodbye, Leaving Americans Authority in All of Iraq

British Major General Andy Salmon turned over his command to US Major General Michael Oates at a transition ceremony. They shook hands and then shared an unscripted embrace. 

The ceremony marked the end of the Multi-National Division South East as well as the handover of power. Now the entire southern region is under one division headed by General Oates of the 10 Mountain. General Odierno, General Austin and General Allen attended the ceremony along with Iraqi Major General Hawedi Mohamed and 250 guests. The ceremony took place at Basra's airport where the Americans landed for the event, and the Brits took off right after. 

The Brit’s flew in a marching band of the highest caliber. They played American and British traditional marches under the warm Basra sun. All of the speakers stressed what the British had accomplished by bringing stability to Basra, even though it is still far from safe. Compared to 2003, Basra is much safer; however, while  General Salmon was having  meeting his last meeting with his entire unit when an air raid siren went off and everyone had to hit the deck.  Although it was a false alarm the base was hit twice in the last couple weeks with  one fatality. Those involved in the ceremony spoke about Basra’s newfound peace but also acknowledged there is more work to be done. General Oates made light of the differences and some animosity that has been in the air pre-transition by saying “Although we not do agree when it comes to football, we agree on most of the rest” and General Austin talked of the bond that comes from spilling blood together for a common good. Chief Air Marshal Sir Jock Stirrup spoke about the British sacrifice, the number of British dead (179) and money spent- figures that pale in comparison to the cost in American and Iraqi lives. General Austin thanked General Salmon by saying the fact that the British are leaving is a sure sign of their success.” Thanks for being part of the core team”.

The Americans have no qualms about taking over and they are changing most everything overnight. Signs on the base are being replaced, as well as the menus in the mess halls--less curry and more fried food. Some British troops will remain on the base until the end of July but the power is now in American hands.Talk of the British commitment in building Iraq’s confidence and security were over shadowed by the fact American forces are bringing in troops to fill the void on the base. The American troops are yet to say, “Mission accomplished,” as Andy Salmon said in regard to his troops' role. The British did complete their stated objectives. The Americans are hunkering down in Basra for the long haul.

72 Hours

It is possible to sign out from the unit one is embedded with for 72 hours. A nifty rule I recently learned. Granted a 72 hour

 window to get something done in isn’t something you can coun

t on in Iraq. The 72 hours can be extended until ones’ mission is completed if you keep in touch and stick to the proposed plan. Sand storms, cancellations and inexplicable delays make it hard to predict how long something will take. Phin and I signed out from Camp Shield last Sunday and didn’t get back unit Saturday. What was meant to be an overnight trip to Basra in order to visit Rota Village in the Marshlands, turned into six days. 

Our first diversion wasn’t transportation relate. After completing the first leg of our journey to Camp Victory, I Checked my email at the airport. I found out, the pinning of the first African American general from Louisiana would take place on the Tuesday we were meant to return, an event we had planned to film. Making it back on time from Bassra seemed iffy so we cancelled our flight with the blessings of a PAO (public affair officer) and rebooked to leave for Basra after covering the ceremony. We spent the next two nights on Camp Victory at the JVB Hotel where we met the Buffalo Bill Cheerleaders. We interviewed Brigadier General Owen W. Monconduit after he was promoted and got the story off to the networks before departing for Basra. 

In Basra we were the guests of General Muhammad Jawad, the Basra operational

 commander. Cpt. Saad picked us up from the airport after some confusion. Our flight arrived late and we weren’t ready to role until after 5:30 AM. On the ride to the Shat Al Arab Hotel (a

 shell of what was once a first class hotel), now part of the BAOC (The Basra Operation Command Center) we stopped at the site of a bus crash. A story that made international news later that day. 

The bus was carrying pilgrims returning from Karbala when it smashed into a British tank that was stopped on the highway around midnight. Seven were killed on impact and another twenty-six were injured. While taking pictures we heard the Iraqi side of events. Once 

on the base, we heard the British side. The Brits blamed the speeding bus, while the Iraqi blamed the 35-ton tank sitting in the road that they claim had no lights on. The incident is still under investigation.Arriving a few days after we planned worked to our favor. A Coalition mission we had been trying to go on during out first visit had been cancelled twice and now was scheduled for the day after we arrived. The mission’s objective - choosing a site for an school/ community center in Rota Village. We went in a convoy with General Muhammad, General Azziz, Capt. Lansden(CMOC), Col Stanford (British Forces), and numerous Iraqi military.

 Iraqi soldiers with AK-47s were stationed every few feet along the entire hour-long route. Rota Village is still known as being in the marshlands, though it is more of a desert then a marsh now.

 Sadam Hussein drained the area starting during the Iran/Iraq war and did further damage after the gulf war.The population dwindled, and only 10% of the area remained a marsh. The indigenous people's way of life was destroyed by Hussein’s acts of echo terrorism. Shortly after Saddam’s regime fell many of the dams were broken, flooding the area, restoring part of the marsh haphazardly. The eco system and the people are still in danger of loosing an ancient culture and many species even though restorations efforts have began. The coalition forces and the IA are trying to raise the people’s standard of living and bring them in to the larger Iraqi community, by building schools, handing out essential goods and restoring the environment. Befriending the Marshland Arabs is one way the Iraqi Army and the coalition hopes to get them to stop smuggling weapons and letting insurgents into Iraq from Iran.

When we dismounted the vehicles all the villagers gathered around. A site for the school was chosen and goods were handed out before we drove on to Rash Al Emara Village. The elders of the village met with the generals in a Mudrif (a sheik’s meeting place). While the meeting was going on, Phin and I photographed the outdoor kitchen.

 Blood soaked the ground where the goats and sheep had been slaughtered not long before. Workers artfully laid out the food on numerous platters before carrying them around the block to the Mudrif. A feast was served in honor of one the elders who past away.
I thought twice about eating (visiting the kitchen 

isn’t always a good idea before a meal) but couldn’t refuse.After taking a few bites, the servers piled enough meat on my plate for at least five people and then plopped an animal’s head next to me.

 I got away with not eating much by moving the food around my plate with the ample bread supplied. I was more excited to shoot the feast then consuming it. After lunch everyone gather around for a funeral ceremony where locals started singing (almost rapping) about the deceased and then broke into a whirling free form dance called Aartha. We both had to take care not to get knocked over by flying dancers while shooting. Just in the nick of time, our group got back in to our motorcade and headed back to the base and then on to the airport. 

We were be delayed another day at Camp Victory due to a dust storm, Once again we got to stay at the VBC (Victory base complex), the best transient residence to get stuck in that you can find in Baghdad. The 39th MP’s picked us up at while out on a mission the following day and got us back to Camp Shield late night via MRAPs, the bumpiest ride in town. It felt good to get back and get into some clean clothes after a shower. Camp Shield is the closet thing to home for us now, till we move on to Ballad in a couple of days, joining the 244th airbrigade, also members of the Louisiana National Guard.

iraqi election comes off without a hitch

Iraq's elections went off without any major problems, a great sign for Iraq and its chances of retaining democracy. The religious fundamentalists parties didn’t win any seats. 65% of the voters turned out, way more than I had been told were expected. It was a proud day for Iraq.

I got to join General Muhammad’s entourage, having a chance to walk the streets of Basra without my Kevlar and truly mix it up. There were countless Iraqi Army forces lining the streets to protect the general, streets blocked off along his whole route. We stopped at three different voting stations. People were visibly proud and exuberant while exercising their right to vote. All voters had to dip their finger in purple ink to prevent people from voting twice. Everyone I asked to photograph held up their finger with pride. I felt the same sense of hope from people in Basra during the election as I did in NYC during the presidential election. When I asked about how they felt about Obama I got big smiles and thumbs up too.

Update from Basra: Iraqi elections begin

Elections started on Jan 28th in Iraq, It is the day the military votes. The general election is on the 31st. I didn’t manage to get myself in a position to cover the first part of the voting as getting around in Basra is not an easy affair; hence no images of the news. Instead I am posting portraits of some of Basra’s leading businessmen who have made the transition from heading state run companies to private ones. They are some of the leaders CMOC (Civil Military Operations Center) are working with in and around the city.

The city is shut down to any coalition military activity unless it is to back up Iraqi forces. I was out of luck since I didn’t have a pre-organized trip planed to cover this part of the election, but we will cover the general election. The hard-earned bloody victory from “The Charge Of the Knights” that restored the city to a state of relative stability has made the voting possible.
What does stability and safety translate to here? Getting off the base requires travel by convoy - the smallest convoy requires four vehicles, and if a VIP comes, that numbers more then doubles. Convoys are mixture of humvees, MRAPs and armored security vehicles, though the latter two are too big for some of the streets and do the opposite of keeping a military presence low key, a new policy being phased into practice. Movement regulation policies are in transition too, as are many other rules, since the Americans will take over from the Brits by the summer and have different approaches on many fronts. A tremendous amount of paperwork is required for every trip. Doing anything spontaneously is highly improbable but times and days of travel, change without notice.

Up until a few months ago, any trips off base were risky. Now they transpire without incident, enabling branches of the military such as CMOC to get projects up and running, supplementing what the British started. CMOC and the British are working together – though there is undeniable rivalry from within. Each country has different priorities. Despite that, things are getting accomplished. Both the American and the British are getting parts of there agenda pushed through: all of which benefits the Iraqis. The focus of the military is on rebuilding society and stabilizing it, so the new government can run efficiently and keep control of Iraq.

With the Brits planning to pull out, they’re thinking about their legacy, according to Captain Robert Lansden, USNR . Basra is the place where most of the British forces have been stationed. Many Brits who I have spoken to are pleased with the degree of progress here. Colonel Dickie Winchester of the British Army only sees only good coming to Basra, as he trusts the foundation the coalition has built is strong enough to ensure a successful transfer of power. He believes the last step is to help build the police force and that the Americans have the know how - to train the civil police force, the job now of the National Guard. Lt. Colonel Sharky Ward too is proud of his work in Basra, especially about a monument that will be erected in the Al Hyyaniyah honoring victims of “Chemical Ali” who were forced by Saddam’s army to drink gasoline and then shot and left to die. The site their bodies were exhumed will have a new memorial.
Despite the fact Basra is relatively safe not all are convinced it will last. Some Iraqis have hope, yet others like Capt. Nazar of the Iraqi oil tanker Tiger, don’t. He has seen strife since the Irian Iraq war up till now. The port he uses, Khor Az Zubar, hasn’t seen any improvements for 30 years.


The more hopeful citizens are the ones that have received funds. After many broken promises money has swayed them, as does the kind of follow up CMOC is providing.
Abuld Altalid, who manages Ib Nmajid, Iraq's largest steel fabrication company received a contract to build a new bridge. It will replace the pontoon bridges Sadam Hussein built to purposely cripple the ports and is a source of pride to Basra. The new bridge, a source of pride in Basra, will open the way for a recovery of the economy of the region. Alulb’s factory sat dormant until Navy Captain Lansden who runs CMOC, met with his staff. Lansden understands the importance of rebuilding the local economy. He broke with the coalition’s policy of using foreign firms to rebuild Iraq by hiring Abuld’s company to build Basra’s new bridge.

Mr. Hussein Mohmud Abdullah, who is running for governor, runs the five ports. He too has hope in his country’s future. Money is flowing in his direction. The British put all of the funds into Un Qusar, Iraqi largest port. CMOC in currently trying to invigorate the other four smaller ports. Money is being made available at Al Makal Port (the first step fixing the cranes) and Khor Az Zubar where they currently they can only handle 14 ships a day.

Rebuilding and invigorating the economy, winning the hearts and minds of the people of Iraq, seems possible in Basra, as long as the money keeps flowing.

How many will come out to vote? About 10% of the population, I’ve heard. Safety isn’t the factor according to the Iraqi’s I have spoken with. They don’t believe their vote has any value so they wont participate. However, there are hundreds of positions open in Basra alone, and thousands of candidates running nationwide; evidently some Iraqis are vested in the process. A working democracy doesn’t come overnight (America, the torchbearers of democracy have some cleaning up to do in its’ own), nor does security, but Iraq is that much closer to both.

It is hard to see an end in sight for the need of coalition intervention to maintain stability in Iraq. From what I have heard and seen, safety is still relative, not reality.

images - top left to right- Ships at Um Quaser / Navy Captain Lansden at machine repair shop, part of Ib Nmajid factory in Basra/ Abuld Altalid manager of Ib Nmajib bottem- left to right Navy Captian Lansden at port Um Quaser/ Mr Hussien Mohmud Abdallh the assitnace for the director for all the ports/Navy Captian Lansden/ Capt. Nazar Iskander /Lt. Colonel Sharky Ward /Colonel (Dickie) Winchester / Cranes at Al Makal Port

Xavier Pick draws Basra with pen and ink

I met Xavier Pick at Camp Allenby. He is an artist of the finest sort. He works from his heart in a very immediate fashion- pen and ink. Xavier was a guest of the British military. He came to Basra, much like I did, to check out the situation for himself and create a body of work about what he finds. He shared his work as he went on the base and in the streets, and will go on sharing the work as he turns his sketches into larger art pieces in the form of paintings and videos. At Division Headquarters he put on an exhibition of printed out blowups of pages from sketchbooks that include text and image. I took pictures of him as he interviewed British General Salmon as they did a walk through of the show. Xavier works in the tradition of the war sketch artist, an English tradition. He got to join in on and draw one mission that made national news. The Iraqi military repossessed ancient artifacts from smugglers in a sting operation conducted fully by the Iraqis. He was on site while the Iraqi military inspected the goods before they were packed up to be returned to the museum in Baghdad. Over the course of a month he documented a large swatch of life in Basra besides all things military.

Xavier’s work is full of his exuberance for life. His sketchbooks are real treasures full of his personal observations. During my interview with him, he commented on the difference between himself and photojournalists,
"The big story of destruction does sell. I'm looking for the opposite." When asked about the worst case scenario for Basra, he spoke instead about the best, saying, " The best case scenario: the Iranian and Iraqi border opens up and everyone accepts everyone. The Shias accept the Sunni, accept the Buddhists, accept the Christians, and we have one big party and we all sit down at the same table to eat."

images top to bottom left to right- Xavier's journal/ Phin Percy filming Xavier in his room/studio at Camp Allenby,open page in sketch book, General Salmon and Xavier walking through exhibition of Xavier's work/portrait of General Salmon/ Portrait of Xavier. To contact Xavier or see more of his work visit his website at

www.xavierpick.com

Schools being aided by CMOC in Basra

I visited two school schools in Basra that are being helped by CMOC (Civil Military Operations Office) and passed by the site of a third where a 3 million dollar school is being built, overseen by Mott Macdonald, an engineering and development consultancy firm based in the UK.

One school in the Al Hyyaniyah (the projects of Basra) is extremely run down. The school has broken windows, no electricity, primitive bathrooms and garbage strewn in the stairwells.
Members of the insurgency are present in that part of town, along with abject poverty. Visiting the school is a security issue, but visiting the school in person is how CMOC assess the schools needs,and establishes an American hands-on presence visible in the neihborhood. Many unkept promises have been made in the recent past so people are skeptical when promised help anew, yet they are seeing first hand what CMOC is doing and are now very receptive.
The other school is a convent school run by the Dominican Sisters of Presentation in an area near Basra’s riverside. The convent school was recently renovated with American funds .I attended a ribbon cutting ceremony celebrating the completion of the project. There are plenty of improvements the school would still like to make, but CMOC an only contributes to each recipient of its funds once. Part of the projects success was due to Sister Susanna who runs the school. She initiated the project by showing up at Camp Basra asking to meet with Mott Macdonald- and made sure things were done to her specifications once she got them to sign on to renovate the school. The school is colorful and clean, with a new tiled roof, bright murals and meeting rooms as well as giant TV’s.

Education is critical for all societies, especially one bombed almost to the ground.
In this instance some of American dollars are being spent wisely. I can't help but think about the schools in New Orleans, some that are still standing, but closed up and moldy. Why is there no money forthcoming for them?

images - from left to right- Convent school renovated, School stairway in Al Hyyaniyah, classroom in Al Hyyaniyah, Detail of teaching aid at convent school, Girl at school in Al Hyyaniyah, Girl at convent school, Boy at convent school, Classroom at convent school, Ribbon cutting ceremony at convent school, Boy at convent